Ottawa, ON - With a new investment from the Government of Canada, the Business + Higher Education Roundtable (BHER) announces renewed funding to ten of our strongest work-integrated learning (WIL) partners so they can broaden their reach and scale their impact. These partnerships will lead to thousands of new WIL experiences for post-secondary students across the country.

“It is exciting to see our government’s support helping to leverage the partnerships of these organizations with employers as they expand the work-integrated learning ecosystem. I am thrilled to see BHER fostering even more relationships as they continue to lead in developing the workplace skills needed for students for the jobs of tomorrow.” said the Honorable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry.

With this new round of funding, BHER is focused on supporting partners committed to creating equitable and inclusive pathways from school to work for:

• Equity-deserving students;
• International students; and
• Students in rural, remote, and Northern communities.

“With these renewed investments, we’re doubling down and tackling the hardest to do WILs for the hardest to reach students,” said Dr. Valerie Walker, Chief Executive Officer of BHER. “We’re reinvesting in our top performing partners who helped us achieve nearly 40,000 WILs over the past three years and who will continue to help us build sustainable WIL ecosystems in the years to come.”

The partnerships announced today represent multiple sectors of the economy, including hospitality and tourism, IT, architecture, engineering and construction, manufacturing, skilled trades, health care, and the environmental sector, among others.

BHER remains committed to the goal of 100% WIL and continues to develop and support partners that deliver quality experiences for students and employers.